.
''The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war,no matter how justified,shall be directly proportional as to how they perceive the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation'' --George Washington--

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Clydebank radio ham helped to win back the Falklands

ARMED with a shortwave radio in a room in his Clydebank home, he was Britain’s secret weapon in the Falklands war.

Les Hamilton was the amateur radio operator who told the British government the islands had been invaded and the only person in Britain to be in regular radio contact with islanders during the Argentinian occupation.

He was the vital link through which details of enemy troop movements and the success of RAF bombing raids were fed back to the Ministry of Defence.

The information he provided was considered so important to the success of the war that within minutes his information was relayed to the task force in the South Atlantic.

Yet until now Hamilton’s role has been a closely guarded secret, known only by senior British politicians, military intelligence officers and a select band of amateur radio enthusiasts.

With just weeks to go before he and his wife Pilar are due to fly out to the Falklands for the 20th anniversary celebrations of the liberation, Hamilton has told Scotland on Sunday of the excitement and fear of being the only outside link for islanders during the dark days of the 1982 occupation.

Hamilton is one of just 16 people to be invited by the Falkland Islands government.Read more HERE

Rogue Gunner T Shirt

RIP Mickey Quinn

Read My Poetry

Those that have never experienced War will always think War a good idea,
Tony McNally

The Royal Artillery Prayer
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who dost everywhere lead
thy people in the way of righteousness, Vouchsafe so as to lead the
Royal Regiment of Artillery, That wherever we serve, on land or sea or in
the air, We may win the glory of doing thy will Amen.

A quarter of homeless people are ex-services and 5,000 former service personnel are in prison.

The Red Poppy Company.

Did you know that each year an average of ten Falklands veterans commit suicide, this means that more soldiers have killed themselves since the end of that war than the fewer than two hundred and fifty eight who died during it.

(Source: Times cover story 12/11/02)

A "tsunami" of mental health problems resulting from the war in Iraq is "headed our way," - -

Ex-servicemen make up a quarter of homeless people in Britain, according to Shelter and the government's social exclusion unit.